In recent years, the physique of the Japanese population has improved, and the average body height has also increased. On the other hand, it has been reported that there is an increase in the number of persons with rounded backs and poor posture. It has been reported that such a deterioration in posture has occurred as a result of a drop in the muscular power of the back muscles and the like in the case of elderly persons, and as a result of a lack of knowledge of how to use the muscles (especially in the back) in the case of persons in younger age groups. Especially in the case of persons in younger age groups, it may be said that these persons do not sufficiently exhibit their own physical ability.
Many garments with structures that focus on posture and straighten the spinal column by pulling the shoulders to the rear have been proposed as means of solving the problem of such a deterioration in posture.
However, such garments suffer from the following problem: specifically, even though these garments straighten the spinal column, the garments fix the movement of the spinal column so that the degree of freedom of the operation of the muscles (especially in the back) is lowered, thus leading to the danger of a drop in muscular power.
Meanwhile, when a human being breathes deeply, the back muscles are stretched and the chest is expanded so that a good posture is formed. However, although conventional techniques relating to the support of the upper body or chest include techniques for supporting the muscles and skeleton of the back (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 9-250008) and brassieres that have abreast shaping function (U.S. Pat. No. 309,602), the point of supporting the muscles used to breathe has not been proposed in any of these techniques.
The present invention was devised in order to solve the above mentioned problems; it is an object of the present invention to provide an upper body garment which can provide focused support of the muscles used during inhalation without hindering the movement of the spinal column.